Like a lot of tech enthusiasts I have watched and waited for Google to get its Chrome Operating System out to market. Then Google announced the Cr-48 and the launch of its Beta Program. The wait was over, my pulse raced as I went to apply to be a tester (Pilot Program Link). To my surprise a few days later I got home to find a package at my front door, happy day indeed.
Okay a quick montage; the “unboxing,” opened the shipping package, then the actual box that held the laptop, powered it up, set up the network, signed in, took an update and viola!
It actually took a lot longer for me to take an update on my Xbox 360 than unboxing the Cr-48 and going through the process I just mentioned.
“So what’s it like,” you may ask? You already know how to use a web browser; from a hardware perspective, it’s not much different than other notebooks/netbooks. It boots up very fast, setup is extremely simple and using it is not the teeth gnashing experience you usually have when trying new software, more specifically, operating systems. Video and audio quality are not HD but they work well enough; I streamed a movie from my Amazon VOD library and the sound was good, not stellar and the picture was SD (360p). The overall build quality is pretty good, I do wish the lettering on the keyboard were a bit brighter. Where there is a little patience required is the touchpad, learning how many fingers to use for scrolling or correcting a spelling error can be a little frustrating. At the end of the day it’s not a bad little netbook.
Google’s “little black book” is actually pretty cool. If you can bare in mind, it’s beta hardware and beta software and it’s FREE, then there should be very few complaints. It’s not flashy, it’s not made from a “single piece of al-u-minium” (Watch this YouTube to get the joke). I’ll talk more about what the Cr-48 is and isn’t and express some opinions on a number of reviews I’ve read, next time.
Cheers...
Okay a quick montage; the “unboxing,” opened the shipping package, then the actual box that held the laptop, powered it up, set up the network, signed in, took an update and viola!
It actually took a lot longer for me to take an update on my Xbox 360 than unboxing the Cr-48 and going through the process I just mentioned.
“So what’s it like,” you may ask? You already know how to use a web browser; from a hardware perspective, it’s not much different than other notebooks/netbooks. It boots up very fast, setup is extremely simple and using it is not the teeth gnashing experience you usually have when trying new software, more specifically, operating systems. Video and audio quality are not HD but they work well enough; I streamed a movie from my Amazon VOD library and the sound was good, not stellar and the picture was SD (360p). The overall build quality is pretty good, I do wish the lettering on the keyboard were a bit brighter. Where there is a little patience required is the touchpad, learning how many fingers to use for scrolling or correcting a spelling error can be a little frustrating. At the end of the day it’s not a bad little netbook.
Google’s “little black book” is actually pretty cool. If you can bare in mind, it’s beta hardware and beta software and it’s FREE, then there should be very few complaints. It’s not flashy, it’s not made from a “single piece of al-u-minium” (Watch this YouTube to get the joke). I’ll talk more about what the Cr-48 is and isn’t and express some opinions on a number of reviews I’ve read, next time.
Cheers...
Cr-48 rocks. Chrome to phone app is so useful. Video chat works great.
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